Compliance with standard precautions among operating room nurses in South Korea.
BACKGROUND
Standard precautions are widely adopted to prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens among health care workers. There is no system to monitor compliance with standard precautions among health care workers, and few studies have been done to identify the level of compliance with standard precautions among health care workers in South Korea.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to determine the level of compliance with and education on standard precautions among operating room nurses in South Korea.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was done with 158 operating room scrub nurses from 7 general hospitals that each had 500 beds or more in Busan, South Korea, from April to May 2006. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires on compliance with double gloving, using protective eyewear, and no recapping of needles.


RESULTS
Twelve percent (19/158) of the participants always used double gloving, 2% (3/158) always used protective eyewear, and 10% (15/158) always practiced not recapping used needles. All hospitals investigated in the study had regular educational programs lasting less than 1 hour on the control of hospital infection for new employees. Only 1 hospital has provided on the job training on the infection control for current operating room nurses.


CONCLUSIONS
Operating room nurses in this study rarely complied with standard precautions, especially with using protective eyewear. Training on a more regular basis should be established to increase the compliance with standard precautions among operating room nurses in South Korea.
Jeong
Ihnsook
I
College of Nursing, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea. jeongis@pusan.ac.kr
Cho
Juhee
J
Park
Sunmi
S
D000328:Adult; D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005135:Eye Protective Devices; D005260:Female; D005932:Gloves, Surgical; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D007318:Inservice Training; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009339:Needles; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016635:Universal Precautions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000078329:Workforce